March Movie Preview: March to the Much Anticipated
February had the breakout hit of the year so far with Black Panther. The March movie releases will attempt to follow that up with a strong month, but it will be tough to match that level of success. There are a few highly anticipated films that are worth a look. We’re still a few months away from summer blockbuster season, but giant robots fighting monsters seems like a good prelude to the fun. Here’s our March movie preview.
March 2nd– Death Wish, Red Sparrow
Bruce Willis takes the law into his own hands in Death Wish. After his family falls victim to a home invasion and his wife is killed, Willis’ character takes to the streets to hunt down the perpetrators one by one. This film is directed by horror regular Eli Roth, and rated R, so expect a lot of violence… and blood.
Jennifer Lawrence’s recent filmography has been quite a mixed bag. Her latest film, Red Sparrow really could go either way, but it looks pretty dramatic. The Kentucky born actress plays a Russian ballerina in this one. After being coerced into playing a role in an assassination, she is given the choice of death or going away to become a sparrow. The sparrows are a group of Russian spies that use their bodies to manipulate targets.
March 9th– Gringo, The Hurricane Heist, Strangers: Prey at Night, A Wrinkle in Time
Gringo stars David Oyelowo as a businessman taken hostage while working in Mexico. Dealing with his shady captors and even shadier employers back in the States, the film places its status as a dark comedy front and center. Joel Edgerton, Charlize Theron, and Amanda Seyfried also star.
The Hurricane Heist looks one part big action movie and one part made for TV bad disaster movie. When a large hurricane approaches, a group of thieves attempt to rob the US Treasury. There is an interesting cast with Toby Kebbell, Maggie Grace, and Ryan Kwanten. Plus the trailer has the excessively appropriate “Rock You Like a Hurricane” playing. So I’m expecting a high quality movie.
Did you see the 2008 horror hit The Strangers? Or maybe, like me, you took one look at the trailer and spent the next five minutes whispering “nope” repeatedly while shaking your head. Well ten years later, there’s a sequel. The Strangers: Prey at Night has a family terrorized by the same creepy masked people as the last movie. …Nope
Do you remember the 2003 television adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time? Well it wasn’t good. So Disney is having another go at it with a big budget film. The story, written as a novel in 1962 by Madeleine L’Engle, has a young girl travelling to a distant planet to save her father. Along the way she gets help from some interesting characters played by a truly impressive cast. Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine, and Zach Galifianakis are just a few of the names on the star-studded roster.
March 16th– Love, Simon, Tomb Raider
Love, Simon is a high school dramedy starring Nick Robinson from Jurassic World. While keeping his homosexuality secret, he falls for an anonymous student who he’s only spoken to online. Unfortunately, his secret is revealed to the world before he’s ready. Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Garner, and Katherine Langford from 13 Reasons Why also star.
Alicia Vikander has won an Academy Award. Now she sets out to achieve something truly difficult. She will attempt to make a good movie based on a video game. Well she’s actually done making it, since it comes out this month. Tomb Raider tells the story of Lara Croft’s first mission as she ventures to the dangerous island where her father was last seen.
March 23rd– Isle of Dogs, Midnight Sun, Pacific Rim Uprising, Sherlock Gnomes, Unsane
Wes Anderson returns to the world of stop-motion animation with Isle of Dogs. Sure, the characters appearing on-screen may be models, but a cast of Anderson’s usual actors are still present. This time they’re providing the voices. Bill Murray, Edward Norton, and Tilda Swinton are joined by Bryan Cranston and Courtney B. Vance. The story takes place in a future where dogs in Japan are all quarantined to an island due to a canine flu. A boy ventures to that island in an attempt to find his dog.
Bella Thorne and Patrick Schwarzenegger star in Midnight Sun, a teenage drama about a girl with a genetic condition where she can’t go out in the sunlight. Once she gets a boyfriend, things get more complicated as she has to navigate the relationship and her condition.
The world of Pacific Rim returns to the big screen with Pacific Rim Uprising. This time there is no Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, or director Guillermo del Toro. The giant monsters have returned, however. So the Earth needs their giant robots to save the day once again. John Boyega stars as the son of Elba’s character from the original. He leads a new team of Jaeger pilots. In this one it seems like the Kaiju attack more during the daylight hours. Last time it was almost always at night. That’s nice of them to consider the sleeping pedestrians.
Gnomeo and Juliet was a 2011 animated film loosely based on Shakespeare’s classic with garden gnomes playing the roles. A new release, Sherlock Gnomes, brings those characters into the world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective. Gnomeo and Juliet turn to Sherlock Gnomes and Gnome Watson to help solve the mystery of the disappearing gnomes. Yes, I am aware how many times I wrote variations of the word gnome in this paragraph. The voice cast includes James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
The main selling point for Steven Soderbergh’s new film, Unsane is that it was shot with an iPhone camera. I suppose that’s interesting. But going to the movies is expensive. We wouldn’t hold it against you if you used industry appropriate equipment. Claire Foy, from The Crown, stars as a woman who thinks she’s being stalked. After that fear lands her in a mental institution, she can’t tell if the threat is real or imagined.
March 29th-30th– Acrimony, Ready Player One
Taraji P. Henson stars in Tyler Perry’s latest film, Acrimony. But Madea is nowhere to be found this time around. This is a thriller where Henson’s character grows tired of her cheating husband and seeks revenge.
We’ve been hearing about Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Play One for quite some time. Well, all that hype brings us to March 29th. Based on the popular book, the story takes place in the near future where people spend their time in a linked virtual reality system playing various games and situations. When the founder of that system dies, he leaves his fortune to the person who solves his virtual treasure hunt. Tons of pop culture references are promised to pop up in the film.
We have quite a long list of March movie options. In addition to those above, there are also some Christian films for the Easter season. But with so many releases, which ones will find success in the crowded box office? Ready Player One and A Wrinkle in Time have been a long time coming. For me, I’m anxious to see how Pacific Rim Uprising is. Also I think Tomb Raider looks like a strong adventure film. What’s your pick?